Among Classic Records' highlight accomplishments was unlocking the audio majesty
of the Everest 35mm magnetic film recordings on a groundbreaking reissue series.

Rarely has a record label been so influential and so associated with
trend-setting recording techniques for its time as Everest Records. Hollywood
sound man Harry Belock and audio dealer-engineer Bert Whyte started the label as
the stereo era dawned. They acquired 3-channel 35mm magnetic film recording
equipment in 1959, and through the early '60s recorded in this fashion, as did
Mercury Records. Unlike the Mercury 35mm recordings that were praised for their
fidelity on LP, Everest LPs were criticized for their lackluster sound and noisy
surfaces. Classic Records owner Mike Hobson reasoned that those LPs were the
result of poor transfers and poor pressings, not the recordings themselves,
which were patterned after the legendary Mercury recordings.

Classic's "Flat Profile" 200-gram pressings and mastering revealed the sonic
detail and lower-range fidelity that 35mm recordings had always offered, but
previously failed to deliver on LP. Now, Classic Records, and Quality Record
Pressings are returning to Everest's phenomenal catalog to reissue 10 titles
meticulously remastered for Classic Records, making these gems available
again for audiophiles to enjoy. Analogue Productions releases these titles on
the Classic Records label, as the jackets and the mastering was done by them.
These LPs, limited to roughly 500 copies of each title, are pressed at
Quality Record Pressings using the same flat-edge profile and same high
quality standard as the lauded Analogue Productions reissue series from Blue
Note, Prestige and others.

35mm magnetic film yielded major advantages over standard 1/4" recording
tape. The film tape width accommodated three channels, each of which was as
wide as the standard 1/4" recording tape, yielding stereo recordings in which
the usual "background noise" was noticeably lower than normal. The 35mm base
material on which the magnetic oxide was coated, was five times thicker than
that of conventional tape, permitting the recording of extremely high sound
intensities without the danger of layer to layer sound "print through." Like
cinematic film, 35mm tape has sprocket holes along the edges, affording an
unprecedented smoothness of motion — extremely low wow and flutter.

The Westrex Corporation built special equipment to Everest's specifications in
order to accomplish these advantages. This equipment included the use of special
recording heads and amplifiers that afforded complete wide band frequency
response in recording.

Classic Records retained Len Horowitz from History of Recorded Sound in
Hollywood, to meticulously restore a vintage Westrex 1551 tape machine, and
build special playback electronics superior to any others used previously to
play back the original 35mm tapes. The Westrex, with new playback heads, was
matched to the "all tube" cutting system at Bernie Grundman Mastering in
Hollywood. With Horowitz running the playback machine and Grundman mastering the
3-track 35mm tapes, the job of transferring from the edited 35mm session tapes
began. In many cases the tapes had to be degassed for weeks at a time before
they could be played back without shedding an excess of oxide that would gum up
the three track heads and require the side to be recut again and again to get a
clean pass. Hobson, Horowitz and Grundman worked for three years to bring 20
of the 26 titles to full release with six titles, which were cut, remaining
unissued.

Everest provided an outlet for some of the greatest American and British
conductors and orchestras of the 20th Century, including Leopold Stokowski,
Adrian Boult, Malcolm Sargent, the London Philharmonic and the
London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the New York Philharmonic
(performing under the nomenclature of the Stadium Symphony Orchestra). Here's
why these are going to be the best versions of these records ever pressed!

• 45 RPM editions! — Grundman cut the Classic reissues at both 33 and 45 RPM;
the 45 RPM versions have never been issued.
• Quality Record Pressings 200-gram flat profile LPs — These records are pressed
with a flat-edge, no groove-guard flat profile, like the originals. The flat
edge refers to the absence of a raised, beaded lip on the outer edge of the
record, providing a flat playing surface — and no incline — on your turntable,
meaning your cartridge comes that much closer to perfectly tracking the groove!

Quality Record Pressings' quality is legendary and these flat profile 200-gram
platters look and sound exceptional!

Each 2LP set comes with an original jacket and an Everest Records branded jacket
showing photos of each reissue title. The two LPs are packaged in a protective
clear sleeve.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E Major, Op. 64 by London Symphony Orchestra &
Sir Malcolm Sargent. Many a great work of music has gotten off to a bad start
because it has been belittled or rejected by a press or public who have failed
to understand or appreciate it. In the case of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony,
however, it was the composer himself who underestimated its musical and artistic
value.

Tchaikovsky had completed his Fourth Symphony in 1877. It was a work of which he
was always very proud - "our symphony" was the way he often referred to it when
corresponding with his benefactress, Nadejda von Meck. The Fifth Symphony was at
first considered a failure by the composer after its first few performances were
poorly received. Further performances proved to the composer and the critics
that, in fact, this great Symphony was worthy of further consideration and
ultimately widespread acceptance.

Here, Sir Malcolm Sargent conducts the London Symphony at Walthamstow Town Hall,
London in a beautifully colorful interpretation of Tchaikovsky's infamous 5th
Symphony.